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October 2009

October 29, 2009

One of the "skills" I found very useful when I worked in a store was the ability to do many things at once. Most people call this multi-tasking. I called it retail.

The longer I worked in retail the better I became at doing many tasks simultaneously. I could check in an order, deal with a customer issue and answer an employee's questions all at the same time without missing a beat. And that's when things at the store were slow.

When I moved into the corporate office at Bose I found the pace maddeningly slow.What really drove me nuts was that it seemed like people only did one thing at time. I used to tell people in the office they'd never make it in the stores.

One day after a meeting a colleague pulled me aside to give me some feedback. I had worked with Pete for a while and knew him to be a straight shooter although I didn't always like what he had to say. Pete told me that my behavior in the meeting had bordered on rude. I had no idea what he was talking about.

He told me that people didn't think I cared what they had to say since I didn't pay attention when they were talking. I was flabbergasted. I told Pete that I was always paying attention even though I might have been doing a few other things at the same time.

Pete told me something I've never forgotten. He said, "You might have heard them, but you weren't listening. To listen you have to use your ears and your eyes." I tried to explain that it was just a habit I had from working in the stores and he said, "Well, it was rude then, too."

Ouch. I realized he was right. From that day forward I tried to listen with both my ears and eyes. I'm sure I failed from time to time when meetings started to drag on, but all in all I did use my eyes a lot more.

The best salespeople always listen with their eyes. While some salespeople are looking around the store or watching colleagues when a customer is talking, the best salespeople are completely focused on their customer whenever he or she is talking. Not surprisingly, hearing more allows them to sell more.

Whatever your position in a retail organization, when you take the time to listen with both your ears and your eyes, you can't help but make a stronger connection with the other person. And isn't that ultimately how we make a difference in both our stores and in our lives?

And Some Miscellaneous Musings

1) With Halloween on Saturday this year I recommend going all out to make your store a great experience this weekend. It's opportunities like this that let your store experience stand head and shoulders above the competition.

2) New research shows that high-potential employees are motivated by a desire to give back to their communities and increasingly seek out employers that allow them to do so on the job. Something to consider as you go into the holiday or post-holiday season.

3) Speaking of giving back, two weeks ago at the Brighton store manager's meeting all 140+ managers spent one evening at different shelters and organizations helping women in need. What a great activity for a manager's meeting!

October 21, 2009

The weeks between now and mid-November can be a
challenging time for many store owners and managers. There's seasonal staff to be hired and brought on
board, holiday orders to being finalized, marketing and events to be planned.

But that's just the start. The holiday orders are arriving
and seasonal merchandising needs to be completed. And it never fails during
this time that something unexpected happens in the store or with the staff.

There's one big difference during this time between
successful owners and managers and the rest. It's a difference that has
nothing to do with the holiday.

The difference is that successful owners and managers are
never too busy to keep the staff focused on their first priority: each and
every customer who comes in to the store.

More important, the owner and manager demonstrate that
priority every day. No matter how long the to-do list, they understand
that it's their actions that
demonstrate to their staff that their first priority is the customer.

Here are six reminders for how you can demonstrate that
customers are still your first priority, even while you're busy getting ready
for the holidays.

1. Start every employee's day with a Daily Take
Five. To me this is a given but
sometimes we can let the morning get rolling and let it slip. Don't let
it. (You can read about the Daily Take Five here.)

2. Be on the floor during peak times. Yes, peak times during the weekday aren't insanely
busy and the staff may get by without you, but being on the floor when the
store is busy demonstrates your priority to your team.

3. The minute you're on the floor you're working the
floor. Sometimes our body may be on
the sales floor but our mind is still on our projects in the office.
Don't let that happen! Your entire team will be watching and will notice if you
miss a chance to engage a customer. Remember, when you're on
the floor you're "on".

4. Don't be too quick to hand off customers to a staff
member. It never fails that if you
walk away from your holiday work and go on the floor that every customer comes
to you instead of the staff. I'm not saying to not hand them off when the time
is right, but doing so immediately demonstrates that your first priority isn't
the customer.

5. Check in with your team from time to time about what's
taking place on the floor. You do
have a lot of things to get done that are critical to your holiday and by all
means do them. But also take some breaks to check in with the team.
Don't just go out and say, "Is everything okay? Good, call me if you need
me." Instead, find out what's been sold and who's been in the store.

6. Print
out Monday's Daily Retail Quote
and post at your desk. It read, "The key is not to prioritize
what's on your schedule, but to schedule your priorities." - Stephen
Covey

Taking these actions will remind your staff that even though
you're busy getting ready for the holidays, your first priority is still the
same. The customer.

October 13, 2009

On Saturday afternoon we had a family outing to Wrentham
Premium Outlet Center to buy some clothes and shoes for our daughters.
The place was packed. The line of cars to get into the center was backed up on
to the highway from both directions. All I could think was "look at all these
opportunities." It was enough
to make my retail heart go pitter-patter. Judging from the number of bags
in people's hands I would say that most stores had a good day. Some might
have even had a great day.

But if my experience was like most customers, the stores
that had a good day could have had a great day, and the stores that had a great
day could have had an extraordinary day -
if they had remembered these four simple words:

Maximize every customer opportunity.

Knowing how to greet and engage customers doesn't matter if
you don't do it with every customer.

The ability to help customers make informed decisions about
the latest fashions or a product's features and benefits doesn't matter if you
don't do it with every customer.

Recommending additional products that will enhance a
customer's purchase and his/her life doesn't matter if you don't do it with every
customer.

Having fabulous new products or incredible sale doesn't
matter if people don't know about them. Sure, you can post signs to that effect
but nothing reinforces the message more than an employee enthusiastically
telling me about them. But it doesn't matter if you don't do it with every
customer.

Lots of store traffic is a wonderful thing but you leave
money on the table if you don't maximize every customer opportunity.

Maximizing every customer opportunity sounds simple but if
it were that easy, more retailers would be doing it. I'd say that
fewer than 10% of specialty retailers maximize every customer opportunity.

I'm not saying this to be negative but quite the
opposite. It's exciting because I see incredible opportunity for retailers like you if you make
maximizing every customer opportunity the foundation of what you do.

Almost all retailers talk about how important customers
are. Very few stress how important every customer is and the impact that
has on business.

Look at the difference.

Welcome and engage customers. Welcome and engage every customer.

Suggest products and services to the customer.
Suggest products and services to every customer.

Offer additional add-ons.
Offer additional add-ons to every customer.

Deliver a great customer experience.
Deliver a great experience to every customer.

Makes sales.
Make sales to every customer.

Maximize your opportunities.
Maximize every customer opportunity.

So let me ask, are you maximizing every customer
opportunity?

If not, consider the impact doing so will have on your
business if it becomes your number one priority.

October 07, 2009

A couple of years ago I switched from Windows to Mac and my only regret is not doing it sooner. The MacBook has been perfect for me, except that every now and then I have too many applications open and the spinning ball appears. Whenever the spinning ball appeared I would tell myself that I ought to upgrade the MacBook memory. Then the spinning ball would disappear and so would the upgrade idea. This pattern repeated itself more often than I care to admit.The other day I read something online, one thing led to another, and I finally got around to ordering and installing that new memory. It essentially doubled the memory on my MacBook.The difference is unbelievable. No, the difference is UNBELIEVABLE. My MacBook is now lightening fast, no spinning ball and my productivity has skyrocketed. It's like I have a brand new computer.The total cost for this amazing difference was $39.90 and 15 minutes of my time. What's really unbelievable is the amount of time and productivity I wasted thinking and talking about upgrading my computer instead of just doing it. The same thing happens in stores every day. Someone might put off painting the store and as a result the space looks tired and old. That's a missed upgrade.Some retailers hold on to products too long, determined to get full price. Then they can't bring in new and exciting products that will actually turn. That's a missed upgrade.Sometimes retailers stay with lines that are no longer relevant to their customer, which keeps them from bringing in new ones. That's a missed upgrade.I hear a lot of stores talking about doing a Facebook page, an electronic newsletter or more events. But month after month they just haven't found the time to do anything about it. That's a missed upgrade.There are sales associates that aren't working to improve key elements of their sales approach. They might be really good, but they could be GREAT. That's a missed upgrade.There are managers and owners who fail to address under-performing employees who are costing them sales and losing them customers. That's a missed upgrade.What about you? What are some of the upgrades you've been thinking and talking about but just haven't done? Your particular upgrade is probably going to cost you more than the $39.90 and 15 minutes mine did, but what's the true cost of not doing it? Even better, what will be the reward for doing so?So let me ask, what upgrade do you need to start today?